Team owner Steve Nell keen for Leeds to help Kieran Brown realise his full potential

The 20-year-old forward has played for both GB Under-18s and Under-20s in recent years and, for many observers, remains one of the hottest prospects in the British game.

Leeds team owner Steve Nell said he had no problem if, in two years’ time, Brown found himself wanting to push for a place on an Elite League roster again.

Later down the line, Nell said he hoped to see the talented forward challenging to make it into the GB senior team, whose current crop are busy preparing for this month’s World Championships in the Latvian capital Riga, where they begin their campaign against Russia on Saturday, May 22.

“Kieran just needs to be out there playing and, hopefully, in a couple of years he will be in a position to challenge for a spot on an Elite League roster,” said Nell. “I believe he has got the potential to play for the national team at senior level.

“That’s not him saying that, that’s just what I believe he’s capable of. He should be a national team player at senior level at some point in the future.

“And if we can help develop him over the next two years, he can get plenty of ice time, he can get well coached – which he will – then it’s just about what he takes from that and hopefully goes on to achieve.”

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The NIHL National is often billed as a development league for up-and-coming British players and Nell is under no illusions that Leeds must fulfil its duties in that department, not just for Brown but others that come through the gate in the short and long-term.

“I think Kieran’s looking to consolidate his position,” added Nell. “He’s still only a very young lad and if he can spend the net two years just developing his all-round game, that will do him the world of good.

“It’s about how Kieran can develop over the next couple of years into a player with us but, hopefully, we can help him move on to the next level on a permanent basis which is exactly what we want to be doing here.

“That is what we’re going to be about as a club, we want to help develop players and help them move on to higher levels in the game.”

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